Men are mistaken in thinking themselves free; their opinion is made up of consciousness of their own actions, … - Baruch Spinoza

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He was breakfasting in the marketplace, and the bystanders gathered round him with cries of " dog. " "It is you who are dogs," cried he, "when you stand round and watch me at my breakfast.

Baruch Spinoza

Men are mistaken in thinking themselves free; their opinion is made up of consciousness of their own actions, and ignorance of the causes by which they are determined.

Actions, Determined, Ignorance, Men, Mistaken, Thinking

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Surely human affairs would be far happier if the power in men to be silent were the same as that to speak. But experience more than sufficiently teaches that men govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues, and can moderate their desires more easily than their words.

Men, Desire, Would Be, Same, Desires, Moderate

Academies that are founded at public expense are instituted not so much to cultivate men's natural abilities as to restrain them.

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Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.

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The supreme mystery of despotism, its prop and stay, is to keep men in a state of deception, and with the specious title of religion to cloak the fear by which they must be held in check, so that they will fight for their servitude as if for salvation.

Deception, Despotism, Fighting, Men, Prop, Religion

I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.

Actions, Bewail, Effort, Philosophical, Scorn, Wisdom